Coffee has been a bit of a running joke in this household. When we were living with my parents while waiting for our house to close, I was also off on maternity leave with our boy. My husband, never the early riser, would come down in a rush and my mother noticed that I didn’t pour a coffee for him first thing. She almost took personal offense to it when I told her he could and did, pour his own. He laughingly told me I should listen to my mother.

Flash forward years later when I went back to work full time – certainly not pouring him coffee as I was busy packing up and organizing two kids for daycare and school drop offs, while getting ready myself, barely. Despite desperately needing the coffee, I would rarely get to it, and as a coping mechanism my husband got me the huge-mongus thermal coffee mug pictured above. This traveling mug keeps the coffee hot for at least 6 hours – it’s total amaze balls! It became my right hand every morning for the last 6 years, accompanying me on my commute as well as to my first morning meetings in the office. I was rather known for the size of the mug, and its contents, especially teased by my colleagues who were European based (how could I drink so much “brown water” as they would call it). I’m not a huge espresso fan, obviously.

Although I am no longer on a regular work schedule, every day after I drop the kids off, the coffee mug continues to be by my side. I fill it up to take with me to the gym; I take it with me on my walks with Cody; it’s even made the cut on weekends.

Remarkably it’s made my transition a little easier, a little piece of continuity. The mug sits on the “More Time for Mom” calendar in the kitchen, rather than amongst notes for signature at the office. You can see the corner of arts/crafts supplies just behind, that my daughter still uses in the kitchen – slime never gets old. I’ve even got my daughter pouring my coffee the odd time these days.